Cambodia sentences 81-year-old Swiss pedophile

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — An 81-year-old Swiss man with a history of pedophilia charges has been sentenced to five years in a Cambodian prison after paying a 13-year-old for sex.

Hugo Leuthold’s lawyer said he plans to appeal Friday’s sentence as too harsh given his client’s age.

Leuthold was arrested in March after police found him naked in a Phnom Penh hotel with the boy.

Rights group Action Pour Les Enfants said in a statement that Leuthold was also charged with illegally entering Cambodia from Thailand, where he jumped bail in 2010 after being charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy.

Cambodian police previously arrested Leuthold on Christmas Day 2010 on charges of sexually abusing four boys. He was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison but was released after 10 months.